2012 cut weekly progress report: Week #2

Week #2 of my 2012 cutting program is complete, and it’s time to check my progress and make any necessary adjustments to my diet and training.

NOTE: If you’re trying to lose fat or gain muscle it’s absolutely critical that you check your progress–and not just with a bathroom scale. I recommend that once every week you check your scale weight, your body fat percentage (using a caliper, not an inaccurate Bioelectrical Impedance scale) and your soft tape measurements. For maximum accuracy, it’s important to take these measurements at the same time and under the same conditions every week. I recommend the EatSmart Precision Digital Bathroom Scale, the MyoTape body tape measure and a basic Skin Fold Caliper. With the exception of the skin fold caliper (the one I use was discontinued) these are the exact products I’ve used for years. These tools are indispensable if you’re serious about reaching your goal, will last a long time and are not expensive.

If you want to track your heart rate during workouts and also keep tabs on your cardiovascular health, then you’ll need a heart rate monitor. I use and recommend the Timex Ironman Heart Rate Monitor.

My 7-point body fat reading this morning is 10.4% (the digital caliper I use is no longer sold, but this manual caliper will do fine if you need one). That’s a -0.8% change since last week’s body fat reading of 11.2%, and a -1.6% change from my body fat reading at the start of my 2012 cut, which was 12%.

Using my scale weight along with my body fat reading I can easily calculate how much of my weight change was fat, and how much was lean mass (note: JSF BodyShop™ makes these calculations for you automatically). Over the past week I’ve lost 1.75 pounds of fat and lost 0.45 pounds of lean mass; since my 2012 cut started I’ve lost a total of 3.72 pounds of fat and lost a total of 2.28 pounds of lean mass.

My tape measurements (as measured by the MyoTape) indicate that over the past week I’ve lost a quarter inch from my waist and a quarter inch from my hips. Since the start of my 2012 cut I’ve lost .5 inches from my waist, .75 inches from my hips and .5 inches from my thighs while all other measurements have remained the same.

My detailed stats (including all tape measurements) and food logs can always be found on JSF BodyShop™. Just create a free account (existing JSF Forum members should simply log in using their forum username and password) and search for me.

This has been another week of excellent fat loss progress! As I mentioned at the start of my cut, this is going to be a very aggressive cutting program as I work my way down to an extremely light weight (target is the mid to low 160 pound range). A 2.2 pound scale weight loss is right on the outside edge of what I consider to be healthy fat loss for someone at my weight and low body fat %, and that’s exactly what I am aiming for. Most of the weight I lost this week was pure fat; the small reduction in lean mass is likely just water, as I am feeling pretty dry this morning. I’m very happy with this week’s progress, especially because my workouts have been phenomenal and my strength has actually continued to improve. No adjustments to diet or training are required this week.

By this time next week my body fat will likely be in the mid 9% range, which is exactly where I was in early December 2011. I took three weeks off from training and ate like a pig in December, and during those three weeks I gained a little over eight pounds and my body fat climbed to 12%. It’s interesting to note that I goofed off for three weeks, and it looks like three weeks is exactly the amount of time it’s going to take to undo that “damage”. 😀

Another interesting factoid is that I was 8 weeks into last year’s cut before I reached my current level of body fat. It’s a good feeling knowing that I’m about six weeks ahead of where I was last year at this time. With the exception of the three weeks I took off this past December, I maintained less than 10% body fat all during 2011. I’m really glad that I did that.

Some excellent cardio improvements this week, too! My resting heart rate is down 1 BPM, which of course positively influenced my Heart Rate Reserve and VO2 MAX scores. The big news, however, is the +10 improvement to my Heart Rate Recovery–a new personal record! When I posted this news in my January 17, 2012 blog there seemed to be some confusion among some members about how the Heart Rate Recovery measurement is taken. I posted the following in the comments section of my January 17, 2012 blog, and I’ll repeat it here for good measure:

Heat Rate Recovery is a simple measure of how many beats per minute your heart rate drops during a set period of time (usually one or two minutes) immediately following strenuous exercise; therefore a larger number indicates a greater drop in heart rate than a smaller number, and is better.

That’s really all there is to it. Many heart rate monitors (including my Timex Ironman have Heart Rate Recovery functionality built right into the watch; once I hit “Stop” while in Chrono mode, I simply rest for 2 minutes and my Heart Rate Recovery score is automatically calculated by the watch.

Yesterday I decided to do an afternoon HIIT cardio session. It was brief, but ultra-intense. Today’s cardio is going to be even more demanding: I’m hitting the trails, and you better believe I’m going to be moving fast. 🙂

John Stone Fitness Comments

Great job man…You are a MACHINE! Mine is coming off pretty slow, last two weeks I’ve only lost 0.8 lbs, but I am in single digit BF (9.9%) again which is months ahead of last year. As long as it keeps coming off, I’m happy.

Thanks a lot, Craig. I’m definitely giving a 100% effort on all fronts.

Excellent work yourself! Getting under 10% is always a very nice milestone.

I think we both did real good this year keeping our body fat at reasonable levels. Looks like you’ve got about a week up on me, but you better keep an eye on your rear view mirror–I’ve got the pedal to the metal! 😉

I am pretty sure you will pass me like I am standing still in the next week or two. Its weird in that I am weighing myself midweek and am as much as 2 lbs lighter then on saturday mornings. Its like I am gaining weight on thur/fri? Diet is the same, only thing different is midweek I weigh myself after a 5 mile run, saturday is after a resistance workout. It will all work out in the end Im sure, might have to switch cardio to saturday.

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